The best colleges in the UK

Choosing what place is the best for your kids' future education is not something you want to decide overnight. Here are a few of the best universities in the UK you should take into consideration before applying. It's a lifetime decision after all, you wouldn't want to rush it.

Your kids will spend the next 3-5 years in a place, working up their future and figuring out what they're good at and what they want to do as professionals, so analysing various offers and future responsibilities is something you can't put aside.

Number 1: University of Oxford

Voted number one among all the universities in the UK, University of Oxford received an 86.7 rank on a global scale. Last year, in 2015, they had over 18,000 undergraduate students and over 24,000 graduate ones applying for a place in this school. In general, Oxford offers 3,2000 undergraduate and 5,250 graduate positions per year, having 12,510 staff employed since 2014. The tuition fee for 2016, for any UK or EU student, is of £9,000 (with the possibility of accessing a loan from the government).

Number 2: University of Cambridge

Very close to being the best in the entire country, University of Cambridge is definitely one to consider for your children. Every year, starting with 2008, Times Higher Education publishes the top universities in the UK, and in 2016, University of Cambridge was among the favourites. According to National Student Survey 2015, Cambridge had 90% student satisfaction rate. Here, the tuition fees are the same as they are for the aforementioned school.

Number 3: Imperial College

If you'd like your children to receive not only a superb, neat education, but also to absorb all the life lessons you can only get from a big city (that has to explored properly), then this college has to be first on your list. It is based in London, and it got 80.4 on a global scale.

It is one of those schools that, over time, learnt how to improve its offer. For example, in only four years (2010-2014), it increased the number of undergraduate degrees awarded from 2,256 to 2,463. The tuition fee is of £9,000 also. As an undergraduate, you can choose from a various ranges of departments depending on your kids' preferences: Aeronautics, Bio-engineering, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computing, Earth Science, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine. And, as a postgraduate, the options also vary: Master's, hundreds of research opportunities and Centres for Doctoral Training.

Number 4: University College London

This is another great alternative not to be disregarded. Scoring 78.4 globally, University College of London has the ability to help your kids find out what their real potential is. The list of what your children can do here is never-ending: cultural heritage, cardiovascular science, economics, European languages and society, Greek and Latin, global prosperity, neurology, ophthalmology, spatial analysis – just to name a few.

The school has Master's programmes for 12 months time (or two years for part-time) in any industry you can think of: arts, sciences, architecture, clinical dentistry fine art, laws, public administration, teaching or of business administration.

Number 5: University of Edinburgh

Going more up North, and losing yourself in the Scottish realm, you'll find University of Edinburgh an open-minded place looking to welcome ambitious kids every year. The tuition fee is the same as it is at the other analysed universities, but keep in mind that everybody who's not a EU citizen will be required to pay something over £16,700 – depending on the course. Way higher than what you need to bet on Bet365. University of Edinburgh encompasses multiple schools and colleges worth looking at: Humanities & Social Science, Medicine & Veterinary Medicine, Business School, School of Divinity, Edinburgh College of Art, Physics and Anatomy, Medical School and many others.

Of course, there are other great options you shouldn't toss aside just yet. Before taking any decision, have a look at the requirements set up by University of Manchester (71.2), King's College London ( 70.1), University of Bristol (68.1), University of Glasgow (65.6), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (64.6), University of Southampton (64.6), of Leeds (63.9) or of Birmingham (63.9). These are all among the best rated ones in the United Kingdom.

Finding the right place can be overwhelming sometimes. You need a couple of months beforehand to sit down and go through all the possibilities and options. You must keep in view all the big issues as well as the smallest details from tuition fees to location and the way the school presents itself. Statistics play a big role in knowing which one may be the best, but you shouldn't let it influence you and your kids' decision too much. After all, it's all about what they want to do in life, in their future professional office or sports career.